


The Job Is Eating Away at His Soul—The Don’t Get Physical Job

by crayonbreakygal



Category: Leverage
Genre: Drama, F/M, Family, soul searching, teaching moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-10-31 17:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17854217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreakygal
Summary: Nate wanted to apologize and grovel and maybe even bow down to her.  He never, ever wanted Sophie to think he could be physically imposing to her.  Takes place during The Gold Job, season four.





	The Job Is Eating Away at His Soul—The Don’t Get Physical Job

**Author's Note:**

> The Gold Job is an interesting episode. Hardison takes over as mastermind. His skills are not quite there yet although he does have a unique way of handling the case. We learn a lot of what is going on in Nate's head, that his soul is being eaten away by the job. He doesn't want Hardison ending up feeling the same way. We also learn how to attract a mark too. And the fact that Hardison really does not have a backup plan where Nate always does. We also learn what "rage quit" means. And that Parker likes to sample every single donut to see which one she might like to eat. This is just a little filler story leading up to The Radio Job. Enjoy!

The Job Is Eating Away at His Soul—The Don’t Get Physical Job

Takes place season four, The Gold Job

 

Nate wanted to apologize and grovel and maybe even bow down to her.  He never, ever wanted Sophie to think he could be physically imposing to her, touch her in such a way that would trigger a horrible memory.

When Hardison told Nate that during this con he would have to pretend to get physical with Sophie, at first, he balked.  Nate could not remember a job where he told one of the team that they would have to literally push one of the others around.  On plenty of occasions, he had wanted to hit Eliot for something or another or maybe slap some sense into Hardison, but he never followed through nor would he ever hurt any of them, particularly Sophie.  She might hit back, which would serve him right.  She’d slapped him a few times during a job, so he knew she was a force to be reckoned with.

He used his “con” voice as he started to argue with her in that office, wanting her to know that it wasn’t Nate that was ready to push her, to make it seem like he was doing this to get a reaction and possible information out of her.  The brother and sister needed to buy the act. Nate wasn’t a very nice person in this story. He had concluded as much while listening to Hardison set it up.  The job was too complicated to succeed in the way Hardison thought it would.  It would come down to how greedy the two siblings actually were.  And he didn’t think that Hardison gave them a good enough reason to want the treasure.  Sure, Sophie could sell anyone the Brooklyn Bridge even though it had been sold on numerous occasions over the years.  She was believable as the professor.  That wasn’t the issue. The issue was Hardison broke a very important rule: never put one of your team in danger from one of the other’s actions. 

They all played dangerous games over the years.  Sophie had learned a hard lesson that first year when she didn’t come clean about the David. The team hadn’t trusted her for a while after, even though she came through in the end.  Hell, he hadn’t trusted her after what she had pulled.  Nate played dangerously with their safety almost every day. That was because he thought he could pull them out easily or sometimes not so easily. He always had a backup plan. The other three though, they did not play games, they had each other’s backs, barring the issue with Moreau and Hardison almost drowning.

Shoving her into the seat, the exchange got more and more heated as the moments ticked past.  Finally, the brother intervened, throwing Nate out of the office. Nate was relieved that it was over.  Sophie had a look of shock on her face that he would not soon forget.

This was why he was sitting at a bar with his hand on an almost empty glass of whiskey at his side.  As he sipped it slowly, he contemplated what he would tell Sophie.  The fact that lately they had both gotten heated with each other was telling. Was it his responsibility to pull back, to do better?  Was it he who was baiting her, pulling her into scenarios where she had to defend herself against him even though the job did not warrant it?

“You look like you’re having a bad day.”

Oh crap, just what he needed. Being hit on at a bar.  Being tall, blonde and beautiful had Nate look twice, but in the end, he had all the woman he needed in a hotel a few miles away.

“What?”

The woman did not scramble out of his way but sat down next to him. Any other sane person would walk away and avoid him at all costs. Not this woman.

“Really bad day.”

The woman ordered a scotch and soda and settled directly beside him.  Sipping the drink, she kept glancing his way as he downed another shot, asking for another quickly.

“Why are men such fucking jerks?  I mean, you share your fucking story with them, you trust them, then bam, they cheat on you. Can you tell me why? Is it they want the latest and greatest model or something?  Grass is always greener?”

Shit, Nate thought. She’s a talker. Sharing your fucking story with a random stranger wasn’t exactly the best way to make friends. 

“We were born that way,” he smirked back at her.

“Finally, someone with the balls to tell it like it is.  Men are so hard to understand.”

Nate saluted her with his almost empty drink glass.

“So, what’s a guy like you doing in a dive bar in the middle of the day getting drunk? I know why I’m here.”

Nate just grimaced and downed the rest of the drink. He knew a come on when he heard one.  She wasn’t subtle about it at all.

“You don’t want to know.”

The lingering scent of apple juice still wasn’t erased by the whiskey in his hand. Now he just had to wait until Hardison realized that his plan was not going to work. Parker was already working her part of it. All Nate had to do was sit around and wait until Hardison’s part collapsed.  That was the problem.  Nate hated sitting around doing nothing.

“I’m a good listener,” the woman purred in his ear.

Her hand landed right on his thigh, the other working up his shoulder to his neck. If he didn’t stop her forward progress, she’d be in his lap in no time flat. She didn’t seem to be drunk, although he wasn’t exactly the best judge of that since he had enough whiskeys under his belt to call a cab instead of driving back to the hotel. He had stopped her hand from making its way to his crotch area, but it was close. 

“I’ll bet,” Nate bit back sarcastically, lightly pushing her away from him.

Throwing the bartender some cash, Nate exited the bar quickly, hoping that the woman did not follow him. Something was off about her. Plus, women did not hit on him like that anymore.  Maybe it was the bad vibes that permeated him lately or the fact that he was not a nice person.  Or the fact that he felt old and tired.

It didn’t take long for Hardison’s plan to fall apart.  Contingencies were a must in their line of work.  Perfection was a lofty goal, but one that Nate never was able to meet.  Reading people, figuring out their desires were complicated at best. Hardison was correct in the fact that the siblings were corrupt.  How to destroy them was another matter. In the end, Hardison managed to figure things out.  He was young but still had a good heart. Something that Nate felt he lacked.

“Hardison done writing his checks?” a voice called out at the door.

Sophie. What to do about her?  The woman in the bar had gotten him thinking.  As Nate flipped through another file regarding Latimer, he noticed that Sophie now stood next to him, like nothing had happened in that office.

“Apparently.”

“You weren’t answering your phone.”

“Busy.”

“Nate, if there is something that’s bothering you.”  Sophie always knew when he was troubled, which happened more and more lately.  “Oh, I wanted to give Hardison his evaluation.  Quite clever he is.  Now if you would stop sulking, we could perhaps go out to dinner.”

“Sulking?” Nate shot back.  “I don’t sulk.”

“Darling, you’re sitting here in the dark sulking.  Listen, Hardison did a great job for his first time.”

“Yeah,” Nate answered back with a bit of bite in his voice.

“He’s young. He’ll get it.”

“Yeah, he’ll get it alright.  I’m not sure I want him to get it.”

Sophie leaned up against his desk, hand placed right next to his for balance.

“Nate, he’s dedicated to the cause of putting these bad guys behind bars.”

“And possibly losing his soul in the process. Sophie, why do you stay?”

Sophie’s eyes widened considerably. She took her time answering him, probably realizing that Nate wanted a real answer, not some mumbo jumbo that she sometimes spouted. 

“Because I believe in what we do. I also believe in you and the rest of the team.”

“Even if it all blows up in our faces?”

Sophie squeezed his hand tight in hers. “You always have a plan.”

“What if I don’t?”

“I trust you.”

“I don’t trust myself.”

He laced his fingers with hers. “Is this about the confrontation in that office?”

“Possibly?”

“Nate, I knew exactly what you were going to do. You’d never hurt me.”

“Not intentionally.  But each time, each time I send any of you out into the world, on a job, it could happen. I can’t exactly plan for everything.”

“You have. And you will. I have faith in you.”

Nate reached up to pull her down, but Sophie resisted, straightening up to a sitting position on his desk.

“I do have one question though. Who is she?”

Nate was not following her line of questioning.  Was she talking about the last job or something else? Sophie turned her phone around to show him a photo of the woman in the bar leaning over into his personal space.  Her hand was very close to vital parts in the photo.

“Good question.”

“Is there anything I need to know?” Sophie asked.

She didn’t act upset or worried. Now that worried him.

“Hit on me in a bar. Something very odd about her. Now I know why.  I was set up apparently.”

“No worries. If they sent it to my phone…”

“Someone was fishing for information.  Probably thought they could cause a rift between us.  Who?”

“I’m sure that Latimer isn’t happy you didn’t take the deal.”

“Anything to put doubt out there.”

“He doesn’t know you. I do.”

Nate got up from his seat to pace the office.  “Not exactly pick up material.”

“You’re wrong about that.  Meredith would have taken you for a spin if offered. Don’t sell yourself short.”

Sophie stopped him with a hand to his arm.

“I’m sorry. About getting too physical. Won’t happen again.”

Sophie looked at him strangely.  “So, you were worried that you were playacting and held my arm? I thought you were guilty about the bar encounter.”

“I hadn’t even thought about that woman until now.”

“That whoever sent her is getting desperate?  They don’t know you the way I do.”

Instead of letting him walk away to brood more, she reached for his shoulders to make sure he didn’t leave her. 

“And that is?”

“That Nate Ford is a conniving, utter bastard, but has no idea how utterly attractive he really is.”

When that woman started to work her hand to the nap of his neck, it kind of creeped him out.  Now that Sophie was doing it, it was felt right.

“Kinda knew the minute she got handsy with me that she was playing me.”

“Would you like me to get handsy with you?”

“You can put your hands anywhere you like.”

“How about right here?” Sophie joked as one of her hands started to work underneath his shirt.

 

Weeks later, as Nate walked through Latimer’s office, wondering what in hell the man wanted now, a woman passed by him, brushing up against his shoulder as he spotted Latimer.  At first, he didn’t recognize her and turned to apologize. She was dressed in a suit and hair was piled high on her head.  The lightbulb went off.  He knew exactly who she was. She gave no indication that she knew him, except for a slight twitch of her eye.  Just what he figured. She was a plant from Latimer, who actually thought he was just some typical guy who would talk or screw the most available woman who hit on him in a bar.  How little he knew Nate.

All that was forgotten when he realized that his father was in danger.

 

“Didn’t take the bait?”

“No, sir.  My payment?”

The woman sat on the other side in a cubicle, plexiglass between her and the person in which she was speaking.

“You failed.”

“The man is not corruptible.”

“All men are corruptible.  Just wait and see. I have plans. I’ve waited over three years. He will suffer. I’ll take it all away from him. Every single last one of them.”

 


End file.
